Climate change and crop diversity: farmers’ perceptions and adaptation on the Bolivian Altiplano

Crop diversity is central to traditional risk management practices on the Andean Altiplano and may find renewed importance in adapting to climate change. This study explored the role of crop diversity in farmers’ adaptation actions in eight Aymara communities on the northern Bolivian Altiplano. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including multifactor analysis and a community resilience self-assessment, we investigated how farmers’ use of diversity in adaptation is related to their perceptions of crop and variety tolerances and other environmental, social, and economic factors. Few crops and varieties were perceived as tolerant to increasingly intense and unpredictable drought, frost, hail, and pest and disease outbreaks. Some local crops and varieties were perceived as vulnerable to emerging conditions (e.g. oca, papalisa, isaño), whereas bitter potatoes and wild relatives of quinoa and cañahua were perceived as highly stress tolerant and provide food in harsh periods. A total 19% of households surveyed (N = 193) had introduced new crops or varieties—often disease resistant or early maturing—as an adaptive action. Introduction of commercial crops was a common adaptation action, reflecting farmers’ response to warming temperatures and changing economic opportunities, but greater sensitivity of the introduced crops may cause maladaptation. Despite intensification of cropping systems, households continue to maintain a median four potato varieties with different tolerance traits, yet this risk management practice was not perceived as adaptation. Strengthening resilience will require a combination of actions, including maintaining and expanding crop portfolios and restoring soil and ecosystem health, using both traditional and innovative approaches.     

Animal source foods consumed in two fishing communities on the northeast coast of Brazil

Fish are a valuable source of essential micronutrients and animal protein consumed worldwide, especially in coastal regions. However, changes have been observed in eating habits of many fishing communities in Brazil, although this is seldom investigated in the northeast region of the country. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize food consumption of meat, especially fish meat, in two fishing communities of Brazilian Northeast. During 2013, information was collected through interviews and food frequency questionnaires regarding eating habits of artisanal fishermen and their families. It was found that fish was the main source of animal protein, although there are differences in consumption according to age and gender of respondents due to dietary restrictions. A difference in the frequency of fish consumption among the communities studied was also found, and there was no correlation between fishermen’s fish preference and fish with higher commercial value. The information obtained is important to understand eating habits of fishing communities, contributing to the development and implementation of public health policies with a focus on food and nutrition security.     

Biophysical and monetary quantification of ecosystem services in a mountain region: the case of avoided soil erosion

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Even though ecosystem services have a significant contribution to human well-being, their value is not always recognized. Despite difficulties, the...     

Rapid adaptation to crisis events: Insights from the bait crisis in the Maine lobster fishery

Climate change, overfishing, and other anthropogenic drivers are forcing marine resource users and decision makers to adapt—often rapidly. In this article we introduce the concept of pathways to rapid adaptation to crisis events to bring attention to the double-edged role that institutions play in simultaneously enabling and constraining swift responses to emerging crises. To develop this concept, we draw on empirical evidence from a case study of the iconic Maine lobster (Homarus americanus) industry. In the Gulf of Maine, the availability of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) stock, a key source of bait in the Maine lobster industry, declined sharply. We investigate the patterns of bait use in the fishery over an 18-year period (2002–2019) and how the lobster industry was able to abruptly adapt to the decline of locally-sourced herring in 2019 that came to be called the bait crisis. We found that adaptation strategies to the crisis were diverse, largely uncoordinated, and imperfectly aligned, but ultimately led to a system-level shift towards a more diverse and globalized bait supply. This shift was enabled by existing institutions and hastened an evolution in the bait system that was already underway, as opposed to leading to system transformation. We suggest that further attention to raceways may be useful in understanding how and, in particular, why marine resource users and coastal communities adapt in particular ways in the face of shocks and crises.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01617-8.     

Determination of total content and isotopic compositions of plutonium and uranium in environmental samples for safeguards purposes by ICP-QMS

The aim of this work was to determine the concentrations and isotopic compositions of plutonium and uranium in environmental samples for safeguards purposes. An analytical method was developed with a plutonium and uranium separation procedure based on extraction chromatography (using 2 mL TEVA and UTEVA columns) and detection with a quadrupole ICP-MS applying an ultra-sonic nebulizer coupled with a membrane desolvation system. Starting from blank swipes, the background equivalent concentration (BEC) was 8 fg for ²³⁹Pu and 1 ng ²³⁸U. The method was successfully applied to certified reference materials as well as to round robin samples obtained in the framework of the inter-laboratory exercise program, promoted by the Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), together with the US Department of Energy (USDOE). After the introduction of an additional ion-exchange separation step, the methodology was applied to the IAEA-384 sediment reference sample with precise and accurate total plutonium and uranium, ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu, ²⁴¹Pu/²³⁹Pu, ²³⁴U/²³⁸U and ²³⁵U/²³⁸U atomic ratio results.     

Monitoring of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination and estrogenic activity in water, commercial feed and farmed seafood

We evaluated the concentration and congener distribution of seven "target" polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) present in water collected in different aquaculture farms of the Mediterranean area, commercial feeds, and farmed seafood. PCBs were present in feed and in tissues of all the analysed organisms at levels ranging from 1.96 ng g(-1) to 124.00 ng g(-1) wet weight, and in 10.5% of the water samples, at levels from under detection limit to 33.0 ng l(-1) with total PCB concentrations significantly higher in samples from the Tyrrhenian Sea than the Adriatic Sea. PCB congener distribution in tissues resembled that of feed, suggesting that commercial feed is an important source of PCBs. The estrogenicity of organic extracts of the samples was also evaluated by using an in vitro yeast reporter assay. Estrogenic activity higher than 10% of the activity induced by 10 nM 17 beta-estradiol was observed in 20.0% of seafood samples and 15.8% of water samples. Seafood and water samples from the Tyrrhenian Sea were more frequently estrogenic than the Adriatic ones (16.45 versus 4.08%). A significant correlation of total PCB concentrations on biological activity was observed for sea bass and mussels from the Adriatic Sea (p < 0.045 and p < 0.04, respectively), and for sea bass of the Tyrrhenian Sea (p = 0.05). These results indicate the need of an integral approach in the exposure assessment to potential toxic compounds for human via food.     

The effect of cattle slurry electroflotation products as fertilizers on gaseous emissions and grassland yield

The climatic conditions of the Basque Country (northern Spain) provide the favorable conditions for the growth of grasslands and the development of livestock enterprises. The intensification of the farms is leading to serious environmental risks due to the great generation of manures and slurries and their subsequent inefficient management. Their application involves N losses that can be pollutant. The environmental company ADE BIOTEC S.L. is developing the process called "electroflotation" with the aim of reducing the volume of slurries from intensive livestock farms. The process consists basically of an electrolysis of the slurry catalyzed by iron which leads to the flocculation of the solid particles, giving as a final result a solid and a liquid fraction. The objective of this work was to assess the usefulness of these two fractions as fertilizers. With this aim, the environmental risk of their application was determined regarding gaseous emissions to the atmosphere (i.e., of NO, NH(3), N(2)O, and CO(2)) and their fertilizer capacity was investigated by determining their effects on grassland yield and N uptake in comparison to the untreated slurry. The untreated slurry and the solid and the liquid fractions were all applied at a rate of 70 kg NH(4)(+)-N ha(-1). The application of the products of electroflotation did not affect N(2)O and CO(2) losses, being of the same magnitude as those caused by the application of the original slurry. However, after their application, a reduction in NH(3) volatilization losses was induced in the short term and a reduction in NO losses was caused in the long term. The solid and liquid fractions both increased biomass yield with respect to the untreated slurry. The solid fraction even induced a higher N uptake than the liquid fraction and the untreated slurry.     

Biotransformation of ethinylestradiol by microalgae

The capability of biotransformation of 11 microalgae strains was tested on ethinylestradiol (EE). Seven strains were ineffective whilst Selenastrum capricornutum, Scenedesmus quadricauda, Scenedesmus vacuolatus and Ankistrodesmus braunii biotransformed the substrate. EE was converted by S. capricornutum in three products (ethinylestradiol glucoside, 3-β-d-glucopyranosyl-2-hydroxyethinylestradiol, and 3-β-d-glucopyranosyl-6β-hydroxyethinyl estradiol) in 40%, 5%, and 5% yields, respectively. S. quadricauda transformed EE into 17-ethinyl-1,4-estradien-10,17β-diol-3-one (12%) and A. braunii transformed EE into 6--hydroxy-ethinylestradiol (25%).

It is noteworthy that EE is converted in 92% yield in ethinylestradiol glucoside by S. capricornutum when using optimal algal density conditions.     

Dibenzothiophene oxidation by horseradish peroxidase in organic media: effect of the DBT:H2O2 molar ratio and H2O2 addition mode

Its is well known that in the biodesulfurization (BDS) process the low water solubility of sulfur compounds hinders its transference from the oil phase to the cells being the rate-limiting step in the metabolism of dibenzothiophenes (DBT). Thus sulfur compounds derivatives with high water solubility could be more easily transported increasing the BDS efficiency. The present work performed a stepwise evaluation of the enzymatic oxidation of DBT by horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Reactions were carried out in monophasic organic media containing 25% (v/v) acetonitrile. The following parameters were evaluated: DBT:H2O2 molar ratio (1:1-1:20); H2O2 addition mode (single or stepwise); pH (6.0-8.0) and temperature (37-50 degrees C). Best results were observed in a reaction medium at pH 8.0 presenting HRP 0.06IUml(-1), DBT 0.267mM, DBT:H2O2 molar ratio of 1:20 (stepwise hydrogen peroxide addition) and incubated at 45 degrees C for 60min. Under these conditions 60% of DBT was converted into dibenzothiophene sulfoxide (12%) and dibenzothiophene sulfone (46%). The DBT oxidation rate observed in this work, of 5mmolmin(-1)g(-1) of HRP, was 250-fold higher than the BDS rate, 20mumolmin(-1)g(-1) of catalyst. As such a combined enzyme-microbial desulfurization process could be envisaged. Products were determined by HPLC RP C-18.